Mat



J. A. RHCHEY Oct. 13, 1936.

MAT

Filed Nov. 6, 1933 Patented oa. 13, 1936 ,Y

' UNITED sTATEs PATENT oFFlcE MAT James A. Richey, New York, N. Y.

Application November 6, 1933, Serial No. 696,864

1 Claim.

In public bath houses and, indeed, in bathrooms of private dwellings thesame room is used by several different persons without a thoroughcleaning being effected between uses. As a result of these conditions,water often accumulates upon the floor of the room so that later usersare subjected to unsanitary conditions and are possibly exposed toinfectious diseases. It is the object of the present invention tolprovide a rnat upon vwhich the user of such places may stand so thatwater running from the body of the user will be caught and held by themat and will not be permitted to accumulate upon the floor of the room..It is also an object of the invention to provide a mat for the statedpurpose which will be so cheap that it may be destroyed or thrown awayafter a single use and which will be of such form that it may be easilycarried in an ordinary bag. The stated object of the invention, and

other objects which will appearv incidentally in the course of thefollowing description, is attained in such a device as is illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, and the invention resides in certain novelfeatures which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a plan view of one form of mat embodying the invention,

Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 2 showing a slightly modified formof the invention,

Figure 4 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the invention,

Figure 5y is a detail section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

In carrying out the present invention, there is provided a sheet I-ofany inexpensive material which will have water-absorbent properties. 40Preferably this sheet is formed from' soft fiber board which is veryinexpensive and may be easily cut to the desired size and shape. The matmay consist of a single ply of sheet material or may be composed ofseveral plies, as shown in Figure 45 2. A backing 2 of somemoisture-proof material, such as parchment paper, or oiled or waxedpaper, is provided and this backing sheet is similar in form to theabsorbent sheet but is somewhat larger so that its margins may be foldedover 50 the edges of the'absorbent sheet, as clearly shown at 3, so thatthe edges of the absorbent sheet will be protected. Suitable fasteningdevices, such as staples shown at 4, are inserted through the margins ofthe sheets at intervals so that the backing 55 sheet will be rmlysecured to the absorbent sheet. A mat thus constructed will be verycheap and may be folded into a small form so that it may bereadilycarried in an ordinary handbag. In use, the mat is placed uponthe floor of the room with the moisture-proof sheet 2 at the 5 bottom ornext to the floor. The user, after bathing, will stand upon the mat sothat Water running or dripping from his body will be caught by theabsorbent sheet I and will be held thereby. The moisture upon the iioorof the room will not 10 penetrate the absorbent sheet inasmuch as themoisture-proof backing sheet is interposed and the water which isabsorbed by the absorbent sheet will not spread over the oor of the roomand, consequently, will not aggravate any existing '15 unsanitaryconditions and will not tend to spread possible infections. Should theuser of the mat be so wet that the Water dripping from his body willwholly saturate the absorbent sheet, the possible excess will remainupon the surface of the 20 4 absorbent sheet, the moisture-proof backingacting more or less as a cup to hold the collected moisture.

It may sometimes be desired to have an vab sorbent sheet in contact withthe floor of the 25 room and for this purpose the form of the inventionshown in Figure 3 may be employed. This form of mat embodies the-sameabsorbent sheet I and backing sheet 2 with its margin folded around theedges of the backing sheet and also 30 includes a lower absorbent sheet5 which is placed next the moisture-proof sheet and is secured theretoby the same staples 6 which secure the sheets I and 2. This embodimentof the invention will serve to take up loose moisture from the floor ofthe room so that, when the mat is subsequently thrown away or destroyed,some of. the

undesirable liquid from the room will be disposed of simultaneously withthe moisture drained from the body of the user. Inasmuch as themoistureproof sheet is interposed between the sheets I and 5, the userof the mat is not exposed to the moisture upon the floor of the roomwhile he is dressing.

In Figure 4, I have illustrated a form of mat which is adapted to beplaced close to bathroom fittings such as the pedestal of a lavatory. Inthis form of the invention, the mat 1 has a recess or notch 8 cut in oneedge whereby the mat may be fitted closely to and partly around .thefitting and, at the corners of the edge containing the notch or recess,cords or'similar fastenings 9 are attached to the mat. These cords maybe passed behind the fitting and their ends tied or otherwise fastenedtogether. The mat I may be of the same detail construction as-either ofthe previously described forms. It may, however, be of such crosssection formation as is illustrated in Figure 5 in which a covering illof highly absorbent material is secured over both surfaces of a lessabsorbent intermediate ply I i. The several plies are secured togetherYby staples i2 or by any other preferred or convenient means.

In al1 forms of the invention, there is provided an exceedinglyinexpensive device whereby the user of a bathroom or similar place willbe provided with means to protect himself against exposure to infectiousdiseases. As has been stated,`the device may be folded into very compactform to be carried in any convenient receptacle and when once used maybe thrown away or destroyed.

Having thus described-the invention, I claim:

A mat comprising a .stackof superposed plies of absorbent material, alower ply of relatively non-absorbent material of greater dimensionsthan the absorbent plies to provide marginal portions proiecting frommargins of the stack of absorbent plies and folded upwardly against sideedge faces of the stack and then inwardly and downwardly against theupper face of the upper plyl to provide a binding yformed integral withthe lower non-absorbent ply and enclosing marginal portions of thestack, and staples engaged `through the binding and all of said pliesfor retaining the plies and the binding in proper relation to eachother.

JAMES A. RJCHEY.

